Turning to liquid biopsy for early cancer detection

One of Boston's major teaching hospitals is examining how it handles patients’ bodies and supports family members after a death.

*Medical research has done wonders to rid populations of diseases; however, the U.S. health care system has failed to appropriate the right resources to Medicare patients with one or more chronic conditions. Health Quality Partners in Doylstown, PA enrolls Medicare patients with at least one chronic illness and hospitalization and sends a trained nurse to see them on a routine basis, whether they are healthy or sick. As a result, the HQP program has reduced hospitalizations and cut Medicare costs.

Losing weight is a struggle for many people and research has shown that one diet does not fit all, some people lose weight on a diet while others gain. For obese individuals, the way to lose weight may be highly personalized and involve a specific diet type, counting calories, or one of many different medications.

Across the country, hospitals are embracing intensive intervention programs to help victims of violence — including those who have criminal histories — after they have been brought in for treatment of injuries. Such programs can help prevent retaliation, reduce the chance a patient will be violently injured again, and put people on track for success.

After a brutal incident led to a violent attack and the death of his son, Senator Creigh Deeds was determined to reform the mental health system in Virginia. The Deeds commission passed a series of reforms, among them a law that created a registry of open psychiatric beds, a transportation program so that people don’t have to be detained by police, and a program that offers housing for people with mental illness.

Environments designed with soundscapes and visual art help to reduce anxiety and pain. In London, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has noted a marked improvement in patient experience, including decreased pain and even a reduction in the time women spent in labor, in the presence of artistic installations. Other hospitals in the UK report similar benefits.

To reduce maternal mortality in the Masai region of Tanzania, Catholic nuns with Sisters of Notre Dame are building hospitals and educating local women about the importance of giving birth in a medical setting. Although this goes against the community's use of a "traditional birth attendant," delivering in a hospital allows for emergency situations to be better addressed and is receiving positive feedback from women in the region.

Hospitals in Colorado are changing their approach to opioid crisis by treating patients that come in as emergent cases and rushing them into medication-assisted addiction treatment. The model has proved so successful that doctors are now looking to expand this approach to methamphetamine users as well.

The Children Living With Cancer Foundation organizes dance parties for children with cancer, to provide them with a sense of joy, encouragement, and community during times of need. The nonprofit also organizes community events and donations and works with local pharmacies to get patients the medicines they need at subsidized rates. So far, the Foundation has supported 300 childhood cancer patients and their families.

Genetic genealogy's use in criminal cases has gone mainstream. As the cases of three murder victims in Indiana illustrate, the science of DNA evidence combined with genealogical research and detective work is rapidly ramping up, from a hobby to a curiosity and now to a major commercial and criminal-justice opportunity. Hundreds of missing persons have been identified from decades-old remains, or murder suspects identified from old biological evidence in cold cases. By creating a family tree of the victim or suspect, investigators can zero in on an identity more quickly and inexpensively than ever.